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Forwarded message:
Subj:    Re: Fwd: Iron :Nails ,Froes,Hoes & Axes
Date:    95-10-04 16:39:38 EDT
From:    TomWheaton
To:      SAGE B
 
Mike
You can post this if you want.
Tom
 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
There are standards for treating metal (iron and others).  SHA has had papers
on the subject and there are associations dealing with it to say nothing of
books.  Why not get some professional advice rather than passing back and
forth these amateur nostrums?  There is more to conserving iron than heating
it to 125 degrees for three minutes and dunking it in wax.  There is only
passing reference to getting the microscopic mineral salts (not just
saltwater from the ocean) out of the metal before anything else should be
done.  Amateurs talking to grad students. This is really scary stuff.  Where
are the professors and professionals on this?  I would no more pretend to be
a conservator than a rocket scientist, and I have more experience than these
guys it seems.  It's like archaeologists pretending to be historians.  What
is there about archaeology that makes everyone think they can do it (with no
training), and what is it about archaeologists that makes them think they can
be historians, conservators, etc. (with no training)?
 
Tom Wheaton
(not representing anyone but myself)